Strumming in the Sun
Mid-April 2026
Hogwarts Grounds
Song: Under the Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Sometimes it started with a tapping of the foot.
The day had started out drizzly, overcast, the type of day where sometimes it caused a physical ache for one to drag oneself out of the great indoors. The castle itself held a lingering chill in the morning, spurred on by the dampness. A few portraits had complained about the cold making their bones ache.
Jessamine, for her own part, had just sighed to herself and taken to cleaning in the morning. A half-forgotten cup of tea had sat on a windowsill, marred by droplets of rain that had inched in through the open panes. Once everything had been somewhat organised, the pitter-patter of rain had begun to fade, and the dark grey of the clouds had lightened to dove.
After having a small sandwich for lunch, Jessamine lazily stroked her snake's scales. He muttered some complaint about her needing lotion, which, of course, would be ignored. The plate with the now-gone sandwich sat discarded on her now-unclean desk, waiting in all its crumbly glory for either more food or Asclepius's hunger, whichever would find its way there first.
But by then, the clouds had begun to part. Before she fully realised what she was doing, Jessamine cast her gaze towards the guitar case at the corner of the room. The grass would still be damp, yes, but a simple Aer Calidus could handle that.
It started with a tap of the foot, but it began with the clearing of the sky.
After scooping up a small blanket in the crook of one arm, Jessamine hefted the carrying strap of the case over her shoulder, where it chafed against the lightweight fabric of her sky-blue blouse. She traversed the stairs down from the Ravenclaw tower as easily as if she'd headed down them all her life. Finally, the sweet warmth of sunlight caressed her face, and she smiled despite herself. It did not take long for her to scout out an ample space beneath a large tree. The buds on the branches, which had not fully leafed out, provided windows through which dapples of sunlight could stretch towards the grassy ground.
She first flicked out the blanket so that it covered roughly two square metres of the grass. Then, she sat, leaning against the trunk of the tree, while unclasping the fasteners on the guitar case. After lifting the guitar out of the case, she checked the tuning, and after deeming it still satisfactory, she began to tap her foot against the blanket, keeping time. The song was one she'd had memorised since shortly after she graduated Hogwarts – alone in a flat in London, she'd felt a bit more at peace practising a song her Muggle-born friends had introduced herself to than she would have at home.
The opening bars of Under the Bridge were simple, easy to adjust her fingers to. She didn't play as often now as she used to, but the feeling of the pick in her right hand was something nostalgic, reminiscent of her youth. It wasn't long before the single notes turned into strummed chords, and she began to murmur the lyrics under her breath...
Hogwarts Grounds
Song: Under the Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Sometimes it started with a tapping of the foot.
The day had started out drizzly, overcast, the type of day where sometimes it caused a physical ache for one to drag oneself out of the great indoors. The castle itself held a lingering chill in the morning, spurred on by the dampness. A few portraits had complained about the cold making their bones ache.
Jessamine, for her own part, had just sighed to herself and taken to cleaning in the morning. A half-forgotten cup of tea had sat on a windowsill, marred by droplets of rain that had inched in through the open panes. Once everything had been somewhat organised, the pitter-patter of rain had begun to fade, and the dark grey of the clouds had lightened to dove.
After having a small sandwich for lunch, Jessamine lazily stroked her snake's scales. He muttered some complaint about her needing lotion, which, of course, would be ignored. The plate with the now-gone sandwich sat discarded on her now-unclean desk, waiting in all its crumbly glory for either more food or Asclepius's hunger, whichever would find its way there first.
But by then, the clouds had begun to part. Before she fully realised what she was doing, Jessamine cast her gaze towards the guitar case at the corner of the room. The grass would still be damp, yes, but a simple Aer Calidus could handle that.
It started with a tap of the foot, but it began with the clearing of the sky.
After scooping up a small blanket in the crook of one arm, Jessamine hefted the carrying strap of the case over her shoulder, where it chafed against the lightweight fabric of her sky-blue blouse. She traversed the stairs down from the Ravenclaw tower as easily as if she'd headed down them all her life. Finally, the sweet warmth of sunlight caressed her face, and she smiled despite herself. It did not take long for her to scout out an ample space beneath a large tree. The buds on the branches, which had not fully leafed out, provided windows through which dapples of sunlight could stretch towards the grassy ground.
She first flicked out the blanket so that it covered roughly two square metres of the grass. Then, she sat, leaning against the trunk of the tree, while unclasping the fasteners on the guitar case. After lifting the guitar out of the case, she checked the tuning, and after deeming it still satisfactory, she began to tap her foot against the blanket, keeping time. The song was one she'd had memorised since shortly after she graduated Hogwarts – alone in a flat in London, she'd felt a bit more at peace practising a song her Muggle-born friends had introduced herself to than she would have at home.
The opening bars of Under the Bridge were simple, easy to adjust her fingers to. She didn't play as often now as she used to, but the feeling of the pick in her right hand was something nostalgic, reminiscent of her youth. It wasn't long before the single notes turned into strummed chords, and she began to murmur the lyrics under her breath...
@Millie Henderson